SAGA Condition Track?

[JohnSnow]

Any ideas on using the Condition Track in 4e? How do you think it would affect gameplay?

This is one of those things that I think would be a good fit for the DMG.

Well, I had a bunch of theories about how the Condition Track would work before it turned up. And I think it wouldn't be hard to houserule in something similar to handle the one thing Fourth Edition damage system seems (so far) to overlook - persistent injuries.

I think that you could institute a mechanic that everytime a character plunges to negative hit points, he receives a persistent injury, which shoves him one level down the Condition Track. You'd have to figure out what was a reasonable penalty and recovery rate, but I'd probably do something like this (Condition Names negotiable):

Conditions:
Lightly Wounded: -1 to all checks and defenses.
Seriously Wounded: -2 to all checks and defenses.
Critically wounded: -4 to all checks and defenses.
Gravely wounded: -8 to all checks and defenses.
Mortally wounded: -16 to all checks and defenses.
Dead: Dead.

Conditions persist for 2 days per negative even with medical treatment or magical healing. In other words, it takes a Mortally wounded character 16 days to revert to gravely wounded, a gravely wounded character 8 days to become critically wounded, a critically wounded character 4 days to become seriously wounded, a seriously wounded character 2 days to become lightly wounded, and a lightly wounded character 2 days to return to full health.

Dropping to negative hit points is the only thing that gives you a wound. Alternatively, you could have a massive damage threshold for causing wounds as well.

And of course, you could introduce a "Cure Wounds" ritual that moves the character one level (or more, for more powerful rituals) up the track.

I'm not sure it's worth the trouble, but it's a fairly easy thing to add in. I may screw around with it after I get used to the Fourth Edition rules.

Of course, there may already be something similar in the PHB or DMG.

 

[Insight]

Given what we've been told about the 4E DMG, a condition track option may very well be in there. If not, it's something we can houserule - those of us interested in such a thing anyway.

 

[Victim]

The lack of a death spiral is a pretty fundamental part of DnD IMO.

The condition track also lends itself to extreme spiking tactics. Characters can only really take 5 condition hits at once, many powers can move people multiple steps, significant defense penalties which further increase condition damage start to occur at -3 (but even the penalties at -1 step can cause problems), AND many characters have ways to speed up their recovery if you don't render them helpless - if you drop many Jedi or Soldiers to -4, they'll just use Equilibrium/Resilience to recover instantly.

For awhile, our group often used Master Negotiator (-2 steps, Persuasion vs Will), Force Stun (often with a force point for -2 steps min on a successful hit), plus our scoundrel shooting them (often with Deceptive Shot, some Sneak Attack, and Dastardly Strike). Characters and groups specifically designed to spam conditions can be devastating.